Before meeting vendors: describe your operation
The most common cause of a poor choice is comparing systems before knowing what is needed. A WMS for a warehouse with 400 products and no lots and one for a distribution center with expiration dates, three shifts and an ERP are not chosen with the same criteria. Before the first meeting, document:
- Processes: receiving against a purchase order, put-away, picking, packing, shipping, returns, transfers between warehouses and counts. Mark which ones you perform today and which ones you need.
- Volumes: active products, locations, lines received and picked per day, orders per day and the seasonal peak.
- Product controls: lots, expiration dates, serial numbers, units of measure and variable-weight products.
- People: how many use the system on the floor and how many in the office, and in how many shifts.
- Equipment: handhelds, label printers, RFID readers and scales you already own or plan to purchase.
- Systems: ERP and version, online store, parcel carriers and any other system that must receive or send information.
- Warehouses: how many, where they are and whether there are transfers between them.
With that description, each vendor answers about your operation and not about a generic one.
The criteria to compare
| Criterion | What to review | Question to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Floor functions | Receiving, put-away, picking, packing, shipping, returns and counts with scanning | What does the handheld do when the picker scans a location or lot other than the allocated one? |
| Lots, expiration and serial numbers | Capture at receiving, FEFO or FIFO, minimum shelf life, history by lot | How are the customers who received a lot identified? |
| Mobile app | Supported devices, reading with scanner and camera, work without a signal | Which functions continue to operate if the handheld loses its signal? |
| Integration | Connector with your ERP and version, documented API, webhooks, file upload | What happens to a failed submission to the ERP? Can it be retried without duplicates? |
| Compatible equipment | Handhelds, printers and readers tested, with date and version | Which devices are field-verified and which are only compatible in theory? |
| Implementation | Plan, duration, who configures, training, initial data load | Which tasks fall to the vendor and which to the customer, week by week? |
| Total cost | Licenses, implementation, licensed devices, add-ons, integration and support | What is the three-year cost with the company's users and devices? |
| Security | Role-based access, two-step verification, backups, audit log | Who can view and change what, and where is it recorded? |
| Support | Channels, hours, published first-response times | What is the first-response time for a problem that stops operations? |
| Data exit | Complete export, format and time limits on cancellation | How, and in which format, is all of the information recovered on cancellation? |
How to calculate the total cost
The license price is only one part. To compare, calculate the three-year cost with the same assumptions for each option:
- User licenses per month, by the number of floor and office users, and the minimum each plan requires.
- Licensed devices: printers, RFID portals or other devices the system charges for each month.
- Implementation: a one-time fee or hourly billing, and what it includes.
- Add-ons: ERP connectors, additional warehouses, a dedicated server.
- Custom integration: hours of your team or an integrator if there is no connector.
- Physical equipment: handhelds, printers, labels and readers purchased from your distributor.
- People: your team's time during implementation and training.
Ask each vendor for an itemized quote with those lines. A proposal that does not separate licenses, implementation and add-ons is difficult to compare and to control afterward.
Warning signs in a proposal
- Presentations only with the vendor's data. A system that works well with sample products can fail with your units of measure or your lots.
- «No development» integrations with an ERP for which there is no tested connector or documentation.
- Equipment «compatible with any reader». Each device integrates in its own way; ask for the list of what has been tested.
- Prices that are disclosed only after several meetings or that change with company size without a rule.
- No clear answer about data exit. If you cannot recover your complete information in an open format, the cost of changing systems grows every year.
- Savings figures without measurement. An improvement percentage without stating how it was measured and in which operation is not useful for a decision.
How to run the selection process
- Document your requirements with the criteria in this guide, and assign each criterion a weight from 1 to 3.
- Build a short list of two or three vendors that publish enough information to meet your requirements.
- Send the same questionnaire to each vendor, with your volumes and your systems.
- Request a presentation with your data: ten real products, one purchase order and one sales order from your operation.
- Test on the floor with two or three people from your team and your physical equipment, in a trial or a pilot if possible.
- Compare the three-year cost with the same assumptions.
- Review the contract: support levels, data exit, renewal and price changes.
- Score and decide with the weighted list, and keep the analysis to review the decision in a year.
How Chainlink WMS addresses these criteria
Chainlink WMS publishes the information this guide recommends reviewing. License prices are on the pricing page: the Operator license costs US$25 per month in Essentials and US$45 in Professional, plus VAT. Essentials and Professional are purchased online, and Enterprise is quoted by sales. The 30-day trial is by invitation from the sales team.
On the floor, the Android app reads with the scanner of Zebra and Honeywell handhelds or with the phone camera, and counts work without a signal. Field-verified equipment is published with date and version on the hardware page. The ERP connectors (SAP Business One, Odoo, ERPNext, SAP S/4HANA and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central) are an add-on for Professional and Enterprise, and the REST API is included in every plan. On cancellation, the owner can export all of the data in a ZIP file with one CSV file per table. See also cloud WMS or on-premise server and security.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to choose a WMS?
With documented requirements and a short list of two or three vendors, the process usually takes a few weeks: the time for presentations with your data, the floor test and the contract review. Without written requirements, it takes longer because each meeting redefines what is being sought.
Is a cloud WMS or an on-premise server the better choice?
It depends on your IT team and on where your data must reside. In the cloud, the provider maintains the server and the updates; on premises, your team maintains the infrastructure. The guide cloud WMS or on-premise server explains the differences between both options.
What should be requested in a presentation?
Ask the vendor to use your real products, one purchase order and one sales order, to show what happens when an incorrect location or lot is scanned, and to show how the confirmation reaches your ERP.